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T. KLEIMEIER.

GAR COUPLING.

N0.'537,6'11. PatentedApr. 16,1895.

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(No Mode1.) a Sheets-Sheet s. T. KLEIMEIER.

GAR COUPLING.

No. 537,611. Patented Apr. 16, 1895.

.. NITED TATES men THEODOR KLEIMEIER, OF COVINGTON, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOROF ONE-HALF TO ALEXANDER DAVE ZAG, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 537,611, dated April16, 1895.

Application filed March 11, 1893.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THEODOR KLEIMEIER, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of Covington, in the county of Kenton andState of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCar- Couplers, of which the following is a specification.

The several features of my invention and the various advantagesresulting from their use, conjointly or otherwise, will be apparent fromthe following description and claims.

In the accompanying drawings making a part of this specification,and inwhich corresponding letters indicate corresponding parts, Figure 1,Sheet 1, is a plan View, of a drawhead and draw bar embodying myinvention. Fig. 2, Sheet 1, is a view of the interior of the draw headand the working parts therein, after the upper half of the shell of thedraw head and the upper half of the draw bar have been removed. Fig. 3,Sheet 1, is a vertical cross section taken in the plane of the dottedline 3 3 of Fig. 2, that side of the section being seen which facestoward the left. Fig. Sheet 2, is a side elevation of the adjacent endportions of two freight cars, provided with means for coupling together,illustrating a preferred mode of the application of my invention tofreight cars. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of a freight car thus providedwith my invention. Fig. 6, Sheet 3, is a horizontal section of the case,other parts being shown in plan. This figure shows the parts in theposition they occupy when unlocked, the free end E of the lock piece Eresting upon the arm D of the oscillatory hook. Fig. 7 is a verticaltransverse section of the device shown in Fig. 6, takenin the plane ofthe dotted line 7 7 of Fig. 6.

A indicates the shell or frame of the draw head.

B indicates the draw bar. This bar is preferably secured to the properpart of the gearing of the car by bolts passed through the bolt holes B,B, of the draw bar B. The draw bar is preferably axially hollow, asshown.

In a curved groove 0 of the draw head is located the rear end or arm Dof the S shaped hook D and capable of sliding in said groove. This arm Dis continued into and forms one with the central portion or middle limbD of said hook D, and the latter is continued and Serial No. 465,510.(No model.)

forms one with the outer limb or hook D of the said hook. The middleportion D increases in thickness toward the hook D. The latter has abolt hole L through its free end to pass through a coupling link whenthe latter is used, for any reason, as for instance, when a car havingmy coupling device is connected to a car which has not my said device. Ahorizontal slot L in the hook receives said link. The hook piece D has ahole at D and those projections A, A, of the draw head A immediatelyabove and below the hook piece have like holes D and through these holespasses the pivot bolt D whereon the hook piece D is pivoted and turns. Araised portion A of the draw head constitutes a lug or shoulder whichprevents parts D and D of the hook from going too far toward that sideof the draw head which is at the top in Figs. 2 and 3. A part, viz: A ofthe head, also acts as a stop to prevent the hook from being thrown toofar back. A spring as K is strained between a stud or fastening K on thehook piece D and a suitable projection as pivot E thereby continuallytending to draw the arm D toward the pivot E and throw back and open thehook D.

A locking piece E is present and lies in the groove 0 of the draw headA, and is pivoted on bolt E fixed in the draw head. The free end E ofthis locking piece can oscillate up and down. When down, its free end Eis against the part D of the hook piece D, and the hook D is therebykept shut, and in place as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. WVhen the lockingpiece is thus raised, the spring K as aforementioned throws back thehook D and opens the coupler in position for coupling with a similarcoupler on the next car.

Suificient room is provided in the drawhead for the free end of thelocking piece to be raised up and out of connection with the hook pieceD. The preferred means for raising the free end of this locking pieceisas follows: A chain or cord F isconnected at one end to an eye orfastening F, F, on the free end of the locking piece. The chain thenpasses up through a passage Way H in the draw head. I

make this passage way much larger than the.

.H having an axial perforation H just large enough to allow the chain Fto pass through it, and therefore cannot clog the operation of theparts. A flange H is located around and on the upper edge of the guardplug and when the plug is in place this flange rests on the top side ofthe draw head and extends beyond the opening or way H. Thus the guard H,H prevents the cinders from entering the draw head through the way H.

The ends of the openings in the draw'bar are preferably closed. As themechanism within the draw bar sometimes needs to be reached forcleansing, or a possible repair, and readjustment, each end is coveredby a lid G, suspended from a pivotal connection at G. A preferreddescription of such connection is a bolt passed through an eye on theupper edge of the lid, and screwed into the draw bar.

The draw head A is provided with a projection A opposite the hook D, andthe purpose of this projection will be hereinafter described.

In the application of my device to freight cars, a preferred means forraising the looking piece E consists of a long rod I, extending from thetop of the car down the end of the latter to a point I Where it isconnected to the chain F lengthened for this purpose. The rod worksthrough guides I, fixed to the car. A suitable stop I on the rodprevents the 1atter from dropping below the desired elevation. On thecar is an oscillatory angulated brace J, pivoted at J to the car. Thefree end of this brace holds the chain out from the car and in positionfor enabling it to be drawn upward with little friction against thewalls of the passage way H. Drawing the brace upward lifts the lockingpiece E. The weight of the rod I causes it to descend when allowed to doso. The angle arm J of the braceJprevents the brace J from descendingbeyond the desired limit. This it does by impinging against the car end.

The mode in which the coupling devices operate in coupling anduncoupling cars is as follows:It is understood that each car is providedwith couplers similar to that described, and shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Inthe adjacent couplers on the end of the car to be coupled, the hookspoint in a direction the reverse of one another. In each coupler, thelocking piece is lifted, and thus thrownout of engagement with the hookpiece. The spring K now draws the parts D D of the hook piece toward thepivot E and moves the hook piece Dout and back. Each coupler is now openso that the hook of the opposite coupler can enter the space between thehook and projection A of the other coupler. The cars are moved towardone another and the couplers approach. The hook of the one couplerpasses the hook of the other coupler, each hook entering betweenprojection A and the part D of the hook piece D of the opposite coupler.The outer free end D of each hookimpinges against the part D of theopposite hook piece, and forces the said part D back thereby moving theparts D andD of the hook pieceD toward the side (upper side in drawings,Figs. 1 and 2) of the coupler, and allowing the looking piece room todescend in front of the part D of the hook piece. The lockin g piecemakes this descent, and locks the hook piece as shown in Fig. 2, andheretofore mentioned. At the same time, the hooks Dof each coupler haveadvanced toward their respective opposing projections A and haveinterlocked. They cannot now be unlocked so long as the cars remain onthe track, until the locking pieces are operated, as aforementioned.

Aside from the advantages of economy of manufacture, and simplicity ofconstruction possessed by my invention, the fact that the hook remainsopen when the coupler is unlocked and is closed and locked in such asimple and effective manner, is a great advantage of myinvention.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-- 1. In a draw head, the combination of the hook piece having hook D,pivot connection D arm D and arm D spring K, strained between arm D anda point on the draw head and the locking piece, bearing against the hookpiece and locking the same, substantially as and for the purposesspecified.

2. In a draw head, the combination of the hook piece D, D D pivoted atD, and stop piece A and stop A and elastic means K, for drawing the armD toward the locking piece E, and this locking piece E verticallyoscillatory, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. In a draw head, the combination of the hook piece D, pivoted at D,and having hearing D and bearing D located substantially as shown, andlocking piece E, pivoted at E and spring K, strained between the hookpiece and pivot E and chain F attached to locking piece E and passing upthrough the draw head, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4. In a draw head, the combination of the hook D, carrying the hook tailpiece D D having a bearing D", pivoted at or near the junction of thehook D with the hook tail piece, and the spring K in connection with thefree end of the hook piece D D and the lever E pivoted at one end andhaving its oscillatory free end adjacent tothe hook piece D D forlocking the hook by having its front end against the surface of the hookportion D D at the bend of said hook and when lifted and unlocked fromsaid hook resting upon the limb D of the hook piece D D the hook piece DD being adaptedto receive and uphold the free end of the lever E whenunlocked, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

THEODOR KLEIMEIER.

Attest:

O. J. MODIARMID, K. SMITH.

IIO

